


We'll Find Him

by scxlias



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Fix-It, M/M, Post-Season/Series Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-08
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-05-31 23:02:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6490813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scxlias/pseuds/scxlias
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first lead they have falls through fast.</p><p>They’ve been looking for him for two weeks, and they’ve come up with nothing. Nothing at all until this. A whisper on the streets. Something Simon picked up from a vampire he bumped into a few days ago.</p><p>They split up, Izzy going with Simon to search a pier closer to the Jade Wolf, Alec and Clary heading to Queens to search the abandoned building the vamp said was being used by Valentine’s people.</p><p>Ten minutes before Alec and Clary find the building, Simon calls and tells them in a very small voice that the pier was a dead end. Clary thinks she can hear Izzy shouting in the background.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Based on _[this](http://lightwoodstilinski.tumblr.com/post/142332872345/im-100-onboard-for-clary-and-alec-teaming-up-and)_ post on tumblr, because I couldn't stand how the season ended, and also, the idea of Clary/Alec brotp is everything. 
> 
> find me in hell @ _[scxlias](http://scxlias.tumblr.com/)_ on tumblr.

  

The first lead they have falls through fast.

They’ve been looking for him for two weeks, and they’ve come up with nothing. Nothing at all until this. A whisper on the streets. Something Simon picked up from a vampire he bumped into a few days ago.

They split up, Izzy going with Simon to search a pier closer to the Jade Wolf, Alec and Clary heading to Queens to search the abandoned building the vamp said was being used by Valentine’s people.

Ten minutes before Alec and Clary find the building, Simon calls and tells them in a very small voice that the pier was a dead end. Clary thinks she can hear Izzy shouting in the background. She sounds furious.

Simon says he’s going to go calm Izzy down, wishing them luck and hangs up. Alec leads the way down a side street as Clary pockets her phone.

The only thing they find in the building is a shax demon. Alec obliterates it with a seraph blade, so unlike him, and throws the blade so hard when he’s done that it embeds itself in a wall. When he goes to tug it free, it sticks and Alec lets out a sound that’d be more fitting coming from an animal. He slams his fist into the wall beside his blade so hard that he dents the wall and Clary can hear something crack.

Alec groans in pain after that and fumbles for his stele only to drop it to the ground as he yanks it from his belt. Clary grabs his good hand then, steadies him against the wall and picks up his stele from the ground, keeping a point of contact at all times. Tears are shining in her eyes, but she draws a perfect iratze anyway, waiting for the rune to heal Alec’s hand before she releases him.

She turns away and gathers the bag she dropped, picking up her own seraph blade and the quiver Alec had discarded. She tucks her blade in her bag when it retracts and gathers the arrows that had spilled onto the floor and tries to ignore the way her hands shake as she puts the arrows back into the quiver.

Alec doesn’t miss it. He kneels next to her and takes his weapon from her and wraps an arm around her briefly, one arm able to reach all the way around her narrow shoulders, and helps her back to her feet, holds her steady once she’s there.

“We’ll find him,” he whispers.

Clary calls Simon. Izzy screams again. Simon hangs up again.

Alec and Clary catch a cab. Alec sits close enough that his shoulder brushes Clary’s every time they hit a bump.

Neither of them sleep that night. They don’t think Izzy does either.

The second time they hear something, its from Luke. Its a week and a half after their first failure. Alaric has noticed an abnormal number of disappearances in another precinct. Luke brings it up in passing.

Alec and Clary gather up Magnus, Izzy and Simon and they leave that night.

They find nothing, yet again.

Alaric had pointed them in the direction of a warehouse that turns up empty save three Ravener demons. 

Alec and Izzy slaughter them. 

Again, Alec doesn’t use his bow, instead hacking the demons apart bit by bit with his blade until they disappear. As the last demon crumples, Alec’s blade clatters to the ground. He stands there breathing heavily, his shoulders heaving with the breaths he’s dragging in, staring at the place the demon had just been.

Magnus doesn’t move to do anything for Alec. He takes one look at Clary stepping towards Alec and turns, ushering Izzy and Simon out. Izzy almost protests, but one look at Clary’s hand on Alec’s elbow and the look on Magnus’ face make her keep walking. Simon takes her hand. She doesn’t question it.

Clary stands there with Alec, his hand on the arm she’s not holding rubbing absently over his parabatai rune. 

"It hurts," Alec whispers. Izzy hears because of the rune inked on her forearm. Simon hears because of his enhanced senses. Magnus doesn't need to hear. He can see it written in the lines of Alec's face as he speaks. 

Clary places her free hand on Alec's, thumb moving to rub over the pulse in his wrist, and suddenly she's enveloped in strong arms, her face pressed against Alec's chest. She doesn't hesitate in throwing her arms around his waist, squeezing back tightly.

Its strange, not something she'd ever expect from Alec, but she accepts it without question, needing the comfort from someone who understands what it felt like to lose him. She doesn't realize until he lets her go that she'd been crying, a little wet spot of the chest of Alec's shirt. She starts to apologize, but he stops her with a shake of his head, wraps an arm around her shoulders and leads her out of the warehouse. 

He drops his arm as soon as they're with the others, but Clary still feels infinitely better. She still feels like her heart has been torn from her chest, but she knows she's not alone now. And that's something, at least, she supposes. 

She's not alone. 

She's not alone. 

She's not...

She's...

She feels alone. 

Alec places a hand on her shoulder and guides her through the portal Magnus conjures to bring them back to the Institute. 

They try to brainstorm when they get there, try to think of ways to find him. Ways to get him back. 

Magnus can’t track him.

Luke's pack has come up empty.

Raphael won't speak to them, so they've lost their chance at help from the New York clan.

Alec is too afraid to try tracking him through the bond again, scared that he’ll lose the last remnants of his connection to his parabatai. He never says this, but they can all tell. No one asks him to try it.

Its been eight weeks. Eight weeks, three days and a handful of hours. 

They will find another way. They will. They will find him. 

Clary repeats it to herself like a mantra. 

_We'll find him, we'll find him, we'll find him, we'll find him._

She repeats it till they don't sound like words anymore, till all other thought is banished from her mind. 

They get leads. Alaric and Luke look out for anything odd coming in through the precinct. Simon listens for anything he can on the streets. Izzy is talking to everyone she knows in the Downworld. Magnus has spoken to his friends Catarina Loss and Tessa Gray. They tell him of every bit of suspicious activity they come across. Every single thing turns up empty. 

Alec all but abandons using his bow. 

He is brutal now. He takes on hordes of demons by himself, hacking them apart, making them suffering before he kills them, never asking a single question before he goes for the first kill. Izzy and Magnus have to reign him in all the time. Clary gets very good at doing that too. 

Clary gets very good at cleaning up the pieces every time another lead turns out to be a dead end. Alec gets very good at comforting Clary once he's calmed down each time. 

Clary's hands shake almost all the time now. She tries to draw to ease her nerves. It always used to calm her down, provide a way for her to express herself. It does nothing now, but emphasize her inability to think straight, keep her hands steady. 

Every line comes out shaky and she can't seem to get the lines of Izzy's body right, can't get the shape of Simon's hands, can't get the curve of Alec's jaw, can't get Max's smile, can't get Lydia's hair, can't get her mother's eyes, or Luke's wolf form. 

She can't get Jace at all. Nothing comes out right, her hands shake too much, and she ends up with a small mountain of crumpled papers near the trash can in her room and tear drops on the next page of her sketch book. 

Its been twelve weeks. Twelve weeks, five days and a handful of hours. 

Its two in the morning and she should be asleep. She  _needs_  the sleep, but she can't. 

Whenever she closes her eyes, she thinks about her mother's gentle voice, telling her that the boy in the photos Alec showed her was not her son. She thinks about her father's cruel voice, lying to her. Lying to Jace. Stealing him away from them, taking him away, disappearing through a portal without a look back, without a care about his real child, only a care for the boy he was  _lying to._

She can't close her eyes without seeing Jace's face as he told her he thought he was full of darkness simply because Valentine had raised him. 

She tears the tear stained sketch of Magnus out of her sketchbook and balls it up, hurls it at the trash can without looking. 

She can tell as she lets it go that it's going to miss, and she closes her eyes with a sigh, but she never hears it hit the floor. 

When she opens her eyes, Alec is standing at the foot of her bed, the ball of paper in his hand, carefully pulling it open. 

"I saw the light on," he says quietly, "I wanted to check on you." 

He finally pulls the paper open, and a small smile tugs at his lips. Clary almost smiles through the tears.

"I couldn't get his Warlock's mark right. I can't get his eyes. I can't... the way he looks when he looks at you. I was trying for that. You always look so happy when he looks at you like that and I thought I could... but I couldn't get it right. I can't get any of these right," she says, breath hitching as she gestures to the mess of discarded sketches on the floor. 

Alec steps closer, and by the Angel, Clary can see the tension written in every line of his body, knows she would draw him in harsh, dark lines if she could get anything right, right now. He carries the weight of the world on his shoulders because he thinks he has to, and he never asks for any help. Jace always took some of his burden by just being there with him. 

Jace isn't here for either of them now. Another tear drops to stain the fresh page in Clary's sketchbook. Alec brushes it away quickly and takes a seat next to her carefully, like he's waiting for her to tell him to go away.

She doesn't. 

She pushes over to make more room, curls in on herself just a little and grips her pencil tightly. 

Alec nudges her thigh with his knee and, like he knows neither of them are going to try to sleep, says, "Try again."

Its Alec she tries to draw this time. 

She gets everything but his mouth right. He looks too serious, too sad and she doesn't want him to look that way, but she can't get it to change. 

They both fall asleep eventually, Clary's sketchbook still open to the drawing of Alec at the foot of the bed. 

It turns out, Alec is clingy in his sleep. Clary jolts awake with a nightmare a few hours later and finds herself on her stomach, Alec's arm draped over her shoulders, one of his legs tangled with hers at the ankles. Its the most vulnerable she's ever seen him and her heart hurts, knowing that Alec misses Jace just as much as she does. 

Magnus finds them the next morning, and Clary wakes to his gentle smile and his hand on her shoulder. She watches as he goes to the other side of the bed and wakes Alec with a soft press of lips to his forehead and a whispered, "Wake up, darling."

Clary smiles at that, the first time she thinks she's genuinely smiled since Valentine stole Jace from them. She nudges Alec's shoulder until he finally wakes up, his arm moving from her shoulders to grab Magnus' hand. He lays there for a minute before he seems to realize what he's doing, releasing Magnus' hand and sitting up abruptly. 

As Clary had drawn last night, some of the tension had leeched out of Alec, slowly, so slowly, but he's been almost relaxed by the time they finally fell asleep a couple hours after Alec came in. They'd talked, about everything but what they needed to talk about, but it had helped. It was good to talk to someone who was just... there. Who didn't constantly ask if she was okay, how was she holding up, you know we'll get him back right?

That last one grated on Clary's nerves whenever it was anyone besides Alec who said it. 

But now, the tension is back in Alec's shoulders, he's rigid as he stands from the bed and Clary's heartbreaks because she feels the same, but people allow her to show her emotions. Alec still thinks he can't show his. 

As much as he cares about Magnus, Clary thinks he'll always love Jace, even if its not in a romantic way anymore. 

Magnus' eyes are sad as Alec hastily exits the room, but Clary stops him from following with a gentle hand on his arm. She reaches for the discarded sketchbook at the end of her bed and hands it to Magnus. There are only three pages left, the others torn out and crumpled. 

But on the three pages, there are three things. 

The first is a quick sketch of Magnus' cat eyes. With Alec by her side, Clary had finally gotten them right, the look in them as he looked at Alec. 

The second page is a sketch of a cat, the one Clary remembered from the alternate universe. Chairman Meow. 

The third is the full body sketch of Alec, looking just a little too sad. 

"Keep it. Its yours."

The look Magnus gives her, his smile, is well worth the lack of sleep she got last night trying to sketch the right thing. 

It's been fifteen weeks. Fifteen weeks, four days and a handful of hours and they have a new lead. 

Clary doesn't get her hopes up. Not again. 

But they can't ignore it. Its the most they've heard in half a month. 

She dresses quickly and heads out to the main area of the Institute, a seraph blade already strapped to her belt, knives in her boots, Alec's bow and quiver slung over her shoulder, glamour keeping them hidden. 

Alec is armed to the teeth, fire in his eyes as Izzy lays out a game plan. It seems like Magnus' hand at his elbow is the only thing keeping Alec from storming out at that moment. 

Simon's heard something from a vampire. Luke and Alaric have information that Alaric found while digging through some new case files. Catarina and Tessa confirm the same. 

Clary doesn't get her hopes up but she hopes. She hopes more than she has in the past month. This is the most solid lead they've ever had. 

They go out as soon as the sun sets. Clary and Alec lead Izzy, Simon, Magnus, Luke and Alaric to the abandoned building they've been pointed at, and they're careful, so careful, but Valentine  _still_  knows they're coming before they get there. 

"Clarissa!" he exclaims, like its a happy reunion, a father seeing his daughter after so long apart. Luke snarls at him. "Oh Lucian, I just want to hug my daughter. After all, her brother and I haven't seen her for so long!" 

Angels. Clary can't believe him. He makes her sick. 

But its Alec who speaks. "Jace isn't Clary's brother. We woke Jocelyn. She told us the truth. She said there's no way Jace could be her son. And you are barely Clary's father. You lost the right to call yourself that." 

Valentine arches an eyebrow. "Have you found yourself a new boyfriend then, Clarissa? Well, he doesn't have my approval."

Magnus bristles. Luke growls. 

Alec draws his seraph blade. 

Jace, standing silently behind Valentine, furrows his brow at that, because that's not the Alec he knows. The Alec he knows is an archer, never gets in the middle of a fight, helps others from a far, taking out the threats they can't see. 

This Alec, though. This Alec is different, and its like twisting a knife in Jace's chest. 

Valentine draws a blade of his own. Jace opens his mouth.

Before he can say anything, Alec lunges. 

There are demons surrounding them before they know it and no one can help Alec in his fight against Valentine. Clary can't defend him against her father. 

Jace looks torn, so torn, for a moment and Clary grits her teeth, shouts at him. 

"Jace, fight back! Help us!" 

Alec's seraph blade is knocked from his hand. Jace grabs for it and immediately goes for the demon that has its sights on Clary. 

Clary swings at her father, sending him stumbling back from Alec. 

She holds her seraph blade in one hand, awkwardly removing Alec's bow and quiver and dropping them next to him. Attention focused on the melee around them, Valentine doesn't see what she's done. 

"Clarissa," he says, "now it won't due for you to be fighting your father. Your boyfriend is rather rude, as well. That isn't the way to win me over if he wants you."

Clary lunges, infuriated by his jab at Alec, and slashes a deep cut across Valentine's chest. He hisses in pain, eyes flashing darkly, his personality changing terrifyingly quick. 

"Fine then. I'll have no qualms about killing you too."

He doesn't get to take a single step before Alec has loosed an arrow into each of his shoulders. 

Valentine shouts, reaches up and _yanks_ , dragging one of the arrows out of his shoulder with a pained yell. 

"For that," he says, voice low, a growl like Luke's when his wolf bleeds into his human self too much, "you die first, boy."

He doesn't get to take a single step before Clary has let out an enraged scream. In one swift move, she drives her seraph blade into her father's stomach. 

The demons disappear almost instantly. 

Valentine Morgenstern dies with Alec Lightwood's arrow in his shoulder, and his daughter's blade in his gut. 

No one grieves.

Clary makes directly for Alec as the others all call out that they're all right. No one's hurt too badly. They all survived. 

He just smiles at her as Magnus comes up to them, wraps an arm around Alec's waist. 

"That was a brave thing you just did, biscuit," Magnus says, reaching out and squeezing her hand briefly. "Now I think you both have someone to talk to." He nods to Jace with a smile. 

Clary nods and wraps her arms around Alec's middle, and he wraps her up in a tight hug. Neither of them point out that the other is crying. 

"We did it," she whispers, "we got him back."

Alec nods and his face breaks out in the brightest smile Clary has ever seen on him and she can't help but smile back. 

Jace is staring when they walk over to him, Alec's arm resting over Clary's shoulders. 

"Did I just see you hug?" Jace asks, incredulous. 

And of course that's the first thing he says to them after over three months of being missing. Almost four months of painstaking searches and dead ends and fighting demon hordes and all of them slowly losing hope and missing Jace so much. 

Alec is rubbing at his parabatai rune again, a force of habit by now. Clary places a hand over his to stop him. He gives her a single nod and she smiles, lunges forward to pull Jace into a hug. 

"Alec was right," she whispers desperately, because she needs him to believe, needs him to know its the truth, needs him to know. "He was right. We woke my mom up and she told us... Jace you're not my brother. You're not. Valentine was not your father. He was only mine. He wasn't your father Jace. You're not evil. You're not like him, you're not, by the Angel, you're not. You're good. You're so good and we've missed you so much, god, I missed you Jace and--" 

Jace stops her rambling with a kiss, and she sinks into his touch, his hands resting on her back gently, like he's afraid she's going to disappear if he holds her too tightly. Like he's afraid this is all an illusion and the body on the floor isn't just a body. 

It breaks Clary's heart. Valentine hurt Jace so much. Made him believe that he was someone he wasn't, lied to him his whole life. 

They break apart quickly and Clary clings to him, not wanting to let go. 

She reaches behind her till she catches the edge of a leather jacket and tugs Alec closer, pulling him into the hug too. He complies easily. 

"My boys," Clary says through a laugh that's borderline hysterical. She can't believe this they're all okay. They've got Jace back and he's okay. He's okay and Clary thinks she's only ever felt happier when they woke her mother.

Jace draws back a little, looks between Clary and Alec, blinking in confusion. "Out of all of the things that could've happened, you two getting this close... I never expected that." 

Alec shakes his head and rolls his eyes, but he's still smiling. Clary presses a kiss to Jace's cheek and rests her head against his shoulder.

"Aw, come on," she jokes, smile still in place, even though there are tears in her eyes. They're happy tears. She's missed Jace so much. "You know you love me," she teases and Alec glares, but there's no heat behind it. He's smiling again in a second, wrapping his arms around Clary and Jace. 

Izzy is there then, and Alec has them all pulled close and Clary can tell he's about to cry, the look on his face changing in a way she's gotten used to over the past few months. 

She looks up and smiles through her own tears, nodding. "We got him back, Alec. We got him back."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit about what happens when they get Jace back to the Institute. 
> 
> As always, I'm in hell at _[scxlias](http://scxlias.tumblr.com/)_ on tumblr.

Nothing is the same when they come back to the Institute with Jace. 

The second he sees Robert and Maryse, Jace's posture goes rigid. He flinches when Maryse moves to lay a hand on his arm. He doesn't let Robert touch him. 

Clary and Alec glance at each other and immediately take up positions on either side of him, warding off anyone who dares come near him. 

Anyone, that is, except for Max, who comes tearing around the corner with an enormous grin on his face as they're entering Jace's room. 

Jace takes one look at the boy in front of him and Clary and Alec can both see the exact moment something in him shatters. The tension that's been keeping his body taut since he entered the Institute disappears as he collapses to his knees, wrapping Max up in a hug. 

"Jace! You were gone for so long! Where were you? What happened? Are you back to stay for good? Clary said it was something bad, but Alec said I couldn't know cause he didn't want me to worry, but then I heard them talking about Valentine and I know how bad he is and I was worried anyway and...Jace, you're shaking. Are you cold? Its not that cold." Max's rapid fire questioning trails off into something much more worried than a ten year old should be.

Clary looks down and her eyes go wide when she notices that Jace is crying. Alec notices at the same time and they exchange a look, moving together in the way they've learned to do over the past four months. 

Alec sweeps Max up off his feet and Clary hefts Jace to his feet in the same moment, so the youngest Lightwood never sees the tears on his adopted brother's face. 

Clary hears Alec behind her, speaking quietly to Max. "Jace is just really tired. He's gonna rest now. Clary's gonna make sure he's all okay. We're gonna go talk to Izzy, okay?"

Alec touches Clary's back once, a brief touch letting her know he's leaving without saying anything, and then his footsteps are retreating down the hall. Clary turns her full attention to Jace, still struggling to get his breathing under control. 

She leads him into his room without a word, guiding him to sit on the bed. 

Her father's blood still stains her shirt. 

Neither of them comment on it. 

She sits in silence as Jace breaks down, all of his walls crumbling as a sob wracks his body. Its a long time before he starts to calm, the heaving breaths and gasps and tears finally dying down. Clary rests her head on his shoulder and wraps an arm around him.

"You're safe now. We got you back, Jace. You're okay. We're all okay," she whispers.

Jace, still trembling in her arms, breathes out, "He told me he was going to kill you all."

Clary smiles a sad smile and says, "He tried his damn hardest, but I don't think anyone counted on Alec and I. We weren't gonna stop until we got you back."

"He wanted you, Clary. He wanted you to wake our moth- I mean, Jocelyn. He wanted you to wake Jocelyn and then he was going to come after you both. He said he wanted us to be a family again. And that he'd... he was going to drag you and Jocelyn back to him and he was going to kill Alec in front of me and I-" Jace breaks off with a ragged gasp, eyes shining again. 

Clary has never seen him look so broken. 

He's worse than Alec was at his lowest point after losing Jace. 

Her heart breaks a little, looking at him. 

"But he didn't. Jace, he didn't. We beat him. You're with us and you're safe now and I'll be damned if we let anyone get their hands on you like that again. He's dead. He's gone for good this time," she assures him, pulling him as close as she can. "Can you get some rest now? Everyone's exhausted, you especially. Sleep. We'll deal with the world in the morning, okay? You're safe. I promise. Just get some rest."

Jace nods and Clary nudges him to shower, get changed out of his gear into something more comfortable. She waits for him, sits with him until he's asleep, his chest rising and falling steadily, looking much more relaxed in sleep than he had looked awake. 

She presses a kiss to his forehead and switches off the light on her way out, making her way back to her own room. 

Alec is sitting on the edge of her bed when she comes in, staring at the space between his feet. He startles when she walks in, almost jumping to his feet before he realizes its only her. 

"Max is with Izzy. We explained everything the best we could. I don't think he totally understands, but he's just happy he's home," he says quietly. "How is he?" 

Alec doesn't have to say who he means. He never does.

"He's sleeping. I stayed until I was sure he was. Got him cleaned up and into something besides gear. He was exhausted. And so are you," she points out, her voice getting quieter.

"So are you," Alec counters, but he doesn't argue what she's said. Instead he just nods towards the bathroom and gives her a sad half-smile. "Go get cleaned up. Throw that shirt away. The blood's set for too long. It'll be too hard to get out."

Clary huffs out a short laugh. "You're really giving tips on getting blood out of fabric to a girl?"

Alec blushes bright red and ducks his head, muttering something incoherent and waving towards the bathroom. 

Clary grins in her victory and goes to clean her father's blood from her skin. 

She throws the shirt away.

Alec is still there when she comes out of the bathroom, dressed in sweats and a tank top. It registers in the back of her mind that he must have left and come back, because he's no longer in his gear, now dressed as she is. 

She doesn't say a word, simply tugs back the covers on the bed and crawls in, every bone in her body aching from exhaustion. She's tired and there are bruises forming all over her body that she'll have to heal with runes tomorrow and she aches all over, but tonight she's happier than she's ever been. 

Jace is asleep just down the hall and he's safe and her father is dead... 

It's the best she's felt in months. 

Alec is still sitting on the edge of the bed as she settles in, twirling his stele between his fingers. Just like Jace does. Clary assumes he'll wait a little, just to assure himself he's safe. 

He doesn't leave, instead sitting like a watch dog, eyes fixed on the door, coiled like a spring, waiting for a threat that will never come. 

Clary sighs and reaches out, grabbing his arm. 

"He was gonna take you too. If we hadn't stopped him," Alec says, looking back over his shoulder at Clary. "We would've lost both of you." 

She tugs him down till he's laying next to her and hugs him the best she can. 

"Alec, we're all safe. We're safe. You and me, we killed him. He's never coming back. Jace is back, and Valentine is dead." Alec nods, and Clary releases him, curls up underneath the comforter. "Now get some rest. We've got a lot to deal with in the morning."

And then she's drifting off to sleep. 

She wakes a few hours later to the soft glow of a witchlight coming from the doorway. 

She's on her stomach, Alec half on top of her, legs tangled with his once again and it takes some effort to shake him awake. They're both a little surprised to see the owner of the witchlight is Jace.

He's wearing a smirk, and its completely out of place with the tears she can see shining in his eyes. "Am I interrupting something?" he asks quietly, and Clary can hear the tears in his voice through the laugh he tries for. 

"Just come here already," Alec mutters, voice rough from sleep, and Jace does, settling hesitantly on the edge of the bed until Clary drags him closer. After a moment, Clary finds herself comfortably sprawled over Jace's chest, wrapped around him as much as she can be. Alec is on her other side and she can tell he's a little more tense with Jace here. Old feelings he's still struggling with, she guesses. Its the last thought she has before she's dead asleep again, exhaustion over taking her.

She wakes to Magnus' cat eyes blinking down at her, a grin on the Warlock's face. 

"Pretty soon, you're going to need a bigger bed, biscuit," he says quietly, with a smile and an arched eyebrow. 

She glances to either side and realizes she's sandwiched between Jace and Alec, the three of them a hopelessly tangled mess of limbs. She's about to apologize to Magnus when he raises a hand, as though he waving her concerns away. 

"I know you're not trying to steal Alexander from me, dear. As adorable as you are, I highly doubt that would work anyway. I'm glad he can be comfortable around you like this. Its nice to see him so relaxed. Thank you for being someone he can feel like that around." 

The look on Magnus' face makes Clary beam as the Warlock moves to the other side of the bed. He wakes Alec with a whispered 'good morning' and a gentle press of his lips to Alec's forehead, and Clary can't help but smile at the scene.

She turns to Jace as Alec begins to stir and tries to gently shake him awake, only to be met with a hand at her throat. 

Her eyes widen and she's about to panic when a flicker of blue sparks catches her eye, and Jace's hand is moving away from her, the halo of Magnus' magic guiding it back. She takes a deep breath and she and Alec vacate the bed quickly, Alec supporting her as she gets her bearings again. 

Jace's eyes are wide in shock, glancing between them and his hands. "By the... I'm so sorry, Clary, I'm sor-"

"Jace, its okay," Clary and Alec say at the same time. 

Jace shakes his head, and Magnus continues, "Jace, we understand that you've been through a lot. I'm going to take Clary and Alexander downstairs. You meet us there when you're ready. Jocelyn wants to speak with you."

And with that, Magnus herds them out of Clary's room. 

They meet Izzy, Simon, Jocelyn and Luke in a conference room, Clary instantly gravitating towards her mother, and they wait. 

They wait.

And they wait. 

Magnus decides this would all be better discussed over breakfast, and covers the table with an assortment of platters with a snap of his fingers. 

And they wait. 

Alec is rubbing at his parabatai rune again.

Jace takes almost an hour and a half to join them. 

He sits uncomfortably at one end of the table and looks from Alec, to Clary, to Jocelyn and back again. Alec shakes his head minutely and Jace relaxes, knowing that Jocelyn doesn't know he'd just tried to strangle Clary just for waking him up.

He picks at the food Izzy sets in front of him. 

It's a little while longer before anyone actually gets to the topic they wanted to discuss. 

Jocelyn sighs and turns to Jace. "So, I'm sure you were told last night, if Magnus' account of what happened is true," is all she says and Jace nods, ducking his head like he expects her to be angry. "I'm sorry I can't give you answers, honey," Jocelyn continues, "at least not the ones you really want, but I can tell you that what Valentine said is not true. You are not our child, Jace. My son would have been a few months older than Alec. My son is dead. You're not a Morgenstern."

Jace's shoulders droop and Clary expects him to deflate, to collapse in on himself like he had last night. But after a minute he sits up straight, a slight smile on his face. 

"By the Angel. Clary and Alec told me last night but I... I thought they might've been lying, or stretching the truth or something," his voice is breathy in disbelief. 

Clary has never seen Jace look more vulnerable than he has since they got him back. Jocelyn shakes her head, a soft smile on her face, and Clary moves to stand next to Jace.

"We don't know who your biological parents are, but I'm sure we can figure it out, eventually," Luke offers.

"You are not Valentine's son," Clary says, "and that's what matters. There is no darkness in you, no more than there is in me." 

Jace nods, and his smile grows wider. He lets out a quiet laugh that's just this side of hysterical. 

And then he's standing, gathering Clary into a hug that sweeps her off her feet. His face is buried in her shoulder, and he's laughing, and she can feel him smiling and she can't help but smile too. 

He finally sets her down, and Clary thinks she has never seen anyone look happier. She swipes a hand underneath her eyes, brushing away tears, and then Jace's lips are on hers, smiling into the kiss. 

"Thank you Clary. Thank you," he whispers as they break apart. He turns to the others after that, crossing the room to pull Alec into a hug in two long strides. Alec holds him tightly, a small smile on his face, like he can hardly believe that this is happening. "I can't believe you guys took on Valentine and won. He was so convinced he was going to be able to take Clary and Jocelyn. He was so convinced he'd win but he..." Jace says quietly as he pulls back from Alec. 

Luke shakes his head. "Valentine was always far too confident in his own abilities. His ego was always to big for his own good. It was always going to be his downfall."

"And," Magnus adds, waving his hand, clearing away the mess they'd made of the table with breakfast. "I don't think he counted on Alec and Clary being so hellbent on bringing you back to them. Those two really are a force of nature when they fight together. And honestly, how could a man who felt nothing account for how much these two love you?"

Clary nods wordlessly at Magnus' comment, her eyes shining with unshed tears. 

"We would've torn this earth apart to find you Jace. You're our brother," Izzy says with a smile.

"Not Clary's," Simon pipes up. Alec shoots him a disapproving glare. Izzy huffs out a quiet laugh.

Jace's expression falls. 

"If... if I'm not a Morgenstern, or a Fairchild, and I'm not a Wayland, who the hell am I?" he asks, voice so quiet, its barely audible.

Clary crosses the room to him and Alec and takes his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze as Alec says, "You're our brother, Jace."

"You're a Lightwood," Izzy adds. "No matter who your birth parents turn out to be, you're our family. Nothing changes that. We were raised together, taught together, we fight together, you're Alec's parabatai. You're a Lightwood through and through. You're our brother."

Jace smiles then, and Clary leans up on her toes to press a kiss to his cheek. 

"I know you want to find out who your birth parents are. And we'll all help," Clary says softly, "But in the end, it doesn't matter. This right here?" She looks at her mother and Luke, glances at Simon and Izzy, notices Magnus watching them carefully. "We're your family. Izzy's right. Nothing changes that. You've got a family with all of us. One you made yourself. You should be proud of that Jace."

"Hell, you were enough to bring even Clary and I together," Alec jokes, half smile on his face. "You mean a lot to us. Don't ever forget that."

Jace smiles and claps a hand on Alec's shoulder, wraps an arm around Clary's waist. "I never will."


End file.
